Sanchi and Ava sat at the bar, a large glass bottle of alcohol between them. Unlike before, though, the pub was otherwise empty.

The Leaky Lighters had been sent out to secure the town’s borders. Just because The Garrison’s members had claimed that they would leave didn’t mean they would.

After all, there was no honor among thieves.

Thankfully, that gave Sanchi an opportunity to glean some much needed information from Ava. From her, he’d learned three important things.

First, that very, very little of the third layer was actually governed by the officer and their forces. Instead, the entire third layer, save for a small section where the majority of the felines lived, was governed by gangs like their own.

Second, each gang was typically made up of only a handful of members on the “inside”, whose fates were closely tied with the gang. Family and close friends, usually. The rest of the members of a gang, such as The Garrison’s, mostly didn’t mind who was in charge—as long as their lives weren’t impacted otherwise. That was a different case for the Leaky Lighters, though, as just about everyone in the gang was related whether through blood or marriage.

And third, rumors had recently passed through town that a strange soul had recently appeared in the center of the third layer, where new residents were “processed”.

All that really meant was that each soul’s history in the myriad worlds was read and judged. If the soul was deemed to be dangerous to the officer and the purpose of the third layer, it was imprisoned, doomed to slowly erode away in a dark cell until the end of its time.

That wasn’t to say that the rest of the layer wasn’t a prison in its own way—but it was obvious which situation was worse. Even if they were all doomed to fade away to nothing, it was better to be able to do so out in the open air, with at least some ability to falsely believe that they had some semblance of freedom available to them.

The reason the strange soul was newsworthy, however, was that after it had been jailed, it had swiftly disappeared. In its wake, some of the guards had apparently seen the ghost of a stout dwarf with an impressive beard waddling off into the distance.

As for why the feline guards hadn’t pursued him? It’d been the middle of the afternoon on a warm day—prime nap time.

“Most people don’t believe the rumors,” Ava finally said as she wiped down one of her revolvers’ cylinders. “But I do. It’s too outlandish for it to be—why are you smiling?”

Indeed, Sanchi, who’d been listening to Ava’s explanation in deep thought up until that point, was suddenly grinning from ear to ear.

“I have a sneaking suspicion that this dwarf is one of the individuals I’m looking for. If anyone could figure out how to manifest a spirit form, it’d be him.”

Sanchi took a few more moments and sips of his beer to silently appreciate Kaukau’s abilities before asking, “So, has anyone seen this spectral dwarf since?”

Ava rubbed her forehead as she tried to think through the haze. “Hmm… There’s rumors of a town up north seeing an abnormal amount of robberies. No sighting of a dwarf, but if that dwarf friend of yours is anything like you…”

She pointedly looked him up and down before continuing. “Then it would explain it. Is your friend something of a, how should I put it…madman?”

Sanchi blinked. Of all the things he was, Kaukau wasn’t a madman. At least not by Boomtown standards.

“I wouldn’t really say so, but maybe? Why would you call him a madman?”

“Everything that’s gone missing in recent months has either been highly explosive, dense in magical power, or otherwise similarly dangerous. Your friend’s planning something big.”

Ava smirked. “I have more to tell you, but are you really going to drink with a lady and not offer her any food? And here I was beginning to think you were a gentleman.”

“Why would you think that of me?!” Sanchi sat upright, his face full of overly exaggerated offense. “You take that back, right now!”

Despite his words, he left his seat, walked behind the bar, and set up his cookware. “I cook, you tell. Charm my ears, lass.”

As the meat began to sizzle, Ava softly smiled. “Now that’s more like it.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

***

It was late into the next day when Sanchi finally woke from his slumber with a smile. The previous night had been productive beyond his wildest dreams—and in more ways than one.

As he typically did when resting in unfamiliar territory, before falling asleep last night, Sanchi had spread tendrils of mana out from the bed he was sleeping in and through the floors and windows.

The town seemed to be at peace. The cows were mooing, the townspeople chatting, and… Ava and several others were seated around a table on the first floor of the pub, talking about something.

Sanchi focused on that particular tendril of mana and snaked it deeper into the pub. Given that he was several buildings away, this would have been impossible for just about anyone, but even in his mortal days he’d used his mana in a similar way to spread the sound of his songs and music to the far reaches of crowds

As such, he was well practiced.

In just a second, he was able to hear their conversation.

“It was chaos last night. The Garrison hit four towns at once—we were the only gang to survive.”

It wasn’t a voice Sanchi recognized. It was a woman’s, but deep and raspy, almost like that of a weathered man.

“The Garrison sent at least a hundred men and just as many guns last night. If it weren’t for Sanchi, we would have joined the others in death.”

That was Ava speaking.

“I don’t trust him.”

This was a man’s voice, somewhat familiar to Sanchi. Had he heard it in the pub the night prior?

The voice continued to speak, “I mean, what? He just happens to show up the night The Garrison attacks and happens to save Ava’s life? I’d say ten to one odds that he’s in cahoots with them and planned everything to get in our good graces.”

Ah. It was Ava’s brother. That’s where he’d heard the voice before.

“I suppose it’s possible, although unlikely. He seems to be pursuing another matter.”

That was Ava again.

“If he’s not working for another gang, then should we recruit him?” the raspy-voiced woman asked.

“Already working on it,” Ava responded. “I think he’s fallen for my looks and wit.”

Sanchi grinned from his bed.

“Hm. Is that why you were late today?” the raspy-voiced woman asked.

“Perhaps.”

“Ew.” Ava’s brother cut in.

“Oh, pipe down you donkey.” The raspy-voiced woman admonished him. “If you were at least half as competent as your sister we wouldn’t be in such a precarious situation. She’s got the looks, brains, and brawn. What do you have?”

Sanchi winced. From what little interaction he’d had with the kid, he knew he wasn’t exactly the cream of the crop, but the raspy-voiced woman really hadn’t held back.

“If this Sanchi lad really is as strong as you say, then we could use him to expand our territory. The Garrison and the other gangs in the area would fall like leaves in the wind.”

A moment of silence followed, long enough that Sanchi began to wonder if his snooping had been detected.

Finally though, the raspy-voiced woman spoke again, “Ava, do whatever it takes to secure the new fellow. The rest of you, spend every last cent in the treasury on guns, bullets, and explosives. The Garrison said they would return in a week, yes? That’s six days from now.

“That’s all the time we have to prepare their graves. Now go.”

Sanchi withdrew the mana tendril when he heard the grating noise of wood rubbing against wood as those in the pub stood up. None of the others were picking up anything interesting, so he withdrew them as well as he hopped out of bed.

Almost immediately after he got dressed, he heard a knock on the door.

“It’s Ava.”

Sanchi thought for a second. He didn’t particularly like that Ava and whoever the lady was were planning to use him for their benefit, but given that he’d approached them for the express purpose of getting information…

A bit of quid pro quo wasn’t out of the question. Besides, helping the Leaky Lighters make a ruckus could help Kaukau—and any other Boomtown legends hiding about on the third layer—find him.

That being said, he wasn’t above getting a little payback.

He swiftly tore off his shirt and jumped back onto the bed, propping his head up with his elbow. “Come in!”

Ava swiftly opened the door and stepped inside. If she was surprised by Sanchi’s naked upper body and artistic pose, she barely showed it. Instead, she reached for his shirt on the floor and tossed it at his face.

“Trying to seduce me?” She chuckled. “It’s a bit early in the day for that, and you’re filthy. Here, I’ll lead you to the wash.”

Sanchi looked down at himself. He wouldn’t quite call himself filthy, as he’d definitely seen himself dirtier. That being said, his current form certainly wasn’t ideal. He was still somewhat dirty from his travels, and his activities from the previous night had left a coating of sweat and grime on his body.

A bath would be nice, but he had something that was more effective. With a bit of concentration, he pushed mana out of his pores and off of his skin, squeezing out all the sweat, grime, and dirt that had built up on his skin and hair.

Under Ava’s incredulous gaze, he was able to use his mana to group all of the waste into a floating ball.

“That was equally disgusting and impressive. Does that clean… everything?” Ava hesitantly asked.

Sanchi smiled. “Yep. Way faster than a bath and far more effective of a clean too.”

“So how do you do that? It seems almost magical.”

Sanchi raised an eyebrow. “It seems that way because it is. Have you not seen anyone use magic before?”

When Ava didn’t respond, Sanchi opened the window and threw the ball of waste out. A painful scream was swiftly cut off as he closed the window again.

“Does nobody on this plane know how to use mana?” Sanchi asked.

“Mana?”

“Of course… it’s a problem of knowledge,” Sanchi mumbled to himself. “It all makes sense now. In your world, nobody ever discovered how to utilize mana, so you found other ways to improve your strength.”

He looked at the revolver holstered on Ava’s belt. “How about this? You give me one of those, teach me how to use it… and I’ll teach you how to use magic. You won’t be able to do much with it to begin with, but if you keep practicing the possibilities are endless.”

Ava pretended to ponder for a moment. “Is magic how you stopped all those bullets last night? With your music?”

Sanchi nodded. “Yes, although you can achieve similar results with more mundane means. The musical touch is more of a personal flair.”

“Teach me.”

“You first.”